The Colorado String Quartet celebrates its 20th anniversary with newly-recorded performances of Beethoven String Quartets. The two-disc set is intended as the first release in a cycle of Beethoven Quartets, to be completed in time for the Quartet’s 25th anniversary.

These performance include all repeats marked by Beethoven in his scores, extending their playing time so that the four works are on two well-filled discs.

The new recording marks the recorded debut of violist Marka Gustavsson with the Colorado Quartet. Gustavsson, who studied at Indiana University with Josef Gingold, will soon receive her doctorate from the City University of New York. She divides her time between New York and New Haven, where her husband John Halle teaches composition at Yale University.

Since 2000 the Colorado Quartet has been Quartet-in-Residence at Bard College, where it gives frequent performances in addition to its touring schedule. The Quartet is also a regular ensemble at the Mostly Mozart Festival. It has often performed complete cycles of the Beethoven Quartets, including one in Berlin in the autumn of 2001.